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Recent Appearances...

Europe

Netanyahu: Europe Is Not Innocent in Washington Killings

2025-05-24

[EuropeanConservative] In a wide-ranging video address on Thursday evening, Benjamin Netanyahu suggested it was no coincidence that the killing of a young couple outside Washington D.C.’s Jewish museum by a pro-Palestine (apparently Marxist) activist has followed on from European leaders’ demands for Israel to end its war against Hamas terrorists, as well as their buying into "Hamas’ propaganda" on aid entering the Strip.

The Israeli prime minister pointed in particular to the false claim that 14,000 Palestinian babies would die in 48 hours because of aid blockades, saying:

The press repeats it. The mob believed it. And a young couple is then brutally gunned down in Washington.
While they started with Jews (inventing "Palestinians" out of nothing) - it never ends with the Jews. Nowadays, European elites conduct a war of extermination against their own people.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Responding to Netanyahu, Hamas rules out exiling its leadership or giving up its weapons

2025-05-24

Their choice. And so the war continues.

[IsraelTimes] Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha told the Qatari Al Jazeera channel last night, in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in which he presented a list of preconditions for ending the war, that the terror group will not give up the “weapons of the resistance,” referring to the weapons of Hamas and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.

He further states that the group refuses to exile its leadership from the Strip, as they are part of the Palestinian people.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

As IDF demolishes hundreds of houses in West Bank camps, residents are determined to return

2025-05-24

[IsraelTimes] Palestinians, whose homes were destroyed in counter-terror operation, speak of hardships after months of displacement; some say they only found out after the fact

With hundreds of structures demolished and thousands of residents displaced as the Israel Defense Forces escalates its most extensive counter-terror campaign in years across the northern West Bank, Paleostinian residents have spoken out about the difficulties of displacement and their determination to return ot their homes.

On January 21, the IDF launched Operation Iron Wall in the Jenin refugee camp, adjacent to the city of Jenin. In February, the operation expanded to include refugee camps near the city of Tulkarem in the western West Bank — Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps. In the first days of the operation, the IDF ordered all residents of those camps to evacuate their homes, and today they remain completely empty.

According to the UN agency for Paleostinian refugees, UNRWA, approximately 40,000 people have been displaced from the camps and are currently staying in nearby villages or the adjacent cities of Jenin or Tulkarem.

Early in the campaign, footage emerged showing the IDF demolishing some homes as part of its incursions and to achieve tactical control on the ground, as was seen in previous operations. However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate...
as the fighting progressed, destruction exceeded that of earlier IDF operations in the camps.

For example, in the Jenin refugee camp alone, the IDF demolished 25 homes in February — something not seen in recent years. According to an IDF statement, these were buildings that "served as terrorist infrastructure."

In early May, the IDF announced the demolition of 100 structures in the Jenin camp due to "urgent security needs," followed by a similar announcement regarding 90 structures in the Nur Shams and Tulkarem camps.

Mohammad Sabar, head of the Jenin camp’s Civil Services Committee, told The Times of Israel that around 200 homes have been destroyed there, previously housing approximately 600 families. In Tulkarem, according to Paleostinian reports, demolitions are still ongoing.

In early May, the IDF stated that "to prevent terrorism from reestablishing itself in northern Samaria, the IDF is making changes in the camps — including the opening of routes and roads — in order to allow freedom of movement and operational capability for IDF forces in the area."

In response to a query from The Times of Israel regarding the number of homes demolished so far in the refugee camps, the IDF replied: "In recent years, the refugee camps in northern Samaria have become terrorist strongholds, with button men operating from within civilian neighborhoods. To prevent the return and entrenchment of button men in the northern Samaria area, the IDF is reshaping and stabilizing the region, in part by demolishing homes, based on the operational needs of forces operating in the field."

It said that in the refugee camps mentioned, over 250 structures have been demolished. The demolitions were carried out following extensive discussions and careful review, and limited to the smallest number possible.

STRATEGY BEHIND DEMOLITIONS
Hebrew media have published several reports in recent weeks providing further details from security sources regarding the scope and purpose of the widespread demolitions.

In a report by Ynet, military officials were quoted explaining that the goal of the demolitions is "to preserve the IDF’s freedom of operation. The method — preventing the reconstruction of homes and roads that were destroyed — will turn the camps from fortified strongholds into urban neighborhoods. The psychological impact: Reducing the phenomenon of refugee camps as terror hubs."

In an interview with Channel 12, a military lieutenant colonel speaking anonymously stated: "We are building a network of routes throughout the entire [Jenin] camp. The idea is to turn it into a regular neighborhood. You’ll be able to drive here, walk here, and it will allow us freedom of operation."

The speakers in both interviews said the narrow alleys in the refugee camps were used by terror operatives against IDF soldiers. Aerial footage published by Haaretz in recent months has shown homes demolished to widen roads.

There are 20 historical refugee camps in the West Bank, all of which were established shortly after 1948, housing Paleostinians who fled or were expelled during the War of Independence from homes located in what is now the State of Israel. Over the years, these camps have evolved into densely populated and enclosed neighborhoods where both the Paleostinian Authority and Israeli security forces face operational challenges.

’A TERRORIST HUB? AN ISRAELI NARRATIVE’

Taqqiya.

One of the residents who learned of Israel’s plans through Israeli media is a resident of the Jenin camp who asked not to be named for safety reasons. His home was demolished during the operation.

Speaking to The Times of Israel by phone, he said: "The Israeli narrative is that every house destroyed to open a road won’t be rebuilt. Israeli media says the goal is to reduce the camp’s population by half, so that 8,000 people won’t return."

He said Israel talks of creating "a new Netzarim Corridor," a reference to a route the IDF carved out in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
to better control the territory during the war, as well as "new streets, and that the army won’t withdraw from the camp until next year."

The IDF has stated that the operation was launched to combat armed gangs that had grown stronger within the camps and were using them as launching points for shooting attacks against Israelis.

On May 7, the IDF reported that 100 button men had been killed in the northern West Bank during the operation, including 36 senior operatives from various terror organizations. According to the military, around 320 wanted individuals have been arrested, approximately 450 weapons have been confiscated, hundreds of bombs destroyed, and dozens of homes used as weapons caches or explosives labs demolished.

The resident rejected this.

"This claim that it’s a hub for terrorists, it’s a narrative," he said. "The army itself says it didn’t find anyone in the camp." (This is incorrect.)

"The young men who were there were arrested by the Paleostinian Authority," the resident went on. "The army found nothing. It found civilians and attacked civilians. It’s my right to peacefully resist and hold onto my home. Is it a crime if I try to hold on to my home? Why do you come to my house, uproot me, and destroy it?"

Some camp residents who spoke to The Times of Israel denied that any significant activity by gangs had taken place in their neighborhoods. Others argued that such activity was legitimate in response to foreign forces entering Paleostinian areas.

Montaser Abu al-Hijaa, from Jenin camp, whose home was burned down during the operation in March, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir "know that there are only 20—30 gunnies in the entire refugee camp, but they want to satisfy a certain segment of Israeli society. The Israeli army has been in the refugee camp for 120 days. There are no festivities, no gunfire. The wanted individuals were arrested by the PA or by Israel, or they were killed."

Nihal al-Jundi from Nur Shams camp said, "Since 1948, there has been popular resistance. That’s the nature of resistance. [Israel] opposes any form of resistance. Every occupied people has the right to resist."

FINDING OUT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
A resident of the Jenin refugee camp, who spoke with The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity, said he was not informed by any official source that his home had been demolished. He only found out after seeing videos on social media.

The 36-year-old father of two recounted: "We left in January, as soon as the order was given for everyone to evacuate. Fourteen of us lived in that house — myself, my parents, my siblings, their kids, and my own children. My daughter cried and screamed at night from the sound of gunfire and explosions. The drone circled overhead and broadcast a message telling us to leave. We left against our will. They didn’t let us take anything — not even clothes. We left with what we were wearing."

He described his displacement journey after leaving the camp: "At first, I stayed with relatives in the city for a bit. Then at my sister’s, then at my uncle’s. But it’s not easy living like that, especially as the operation dragged on. So I rented a house in Jenin for NIS 2,500 ($700) a month. Now I live in a smaller, cheaper place — I can’t afford more. I currently pay NIS 1,700 ($470) a month. The place I’m renting doesn’t have a fridge or basic appliances. It’s two rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom, and 14 people live there."

According to Nihad Shuweish, head of the Civil Services Committee in Nur Shams, neither the IDF nor Israeli authorities officially informed Paleostinian residents of a plan to alter the structure of the refugee camps.

He told The Times of Israel in a phone call that the only official notification came from the District Coordination and Liaison Office (DCO), and it included a list of homes scheduled for demolition, so families could be notified. Those families were given about two hours, coordinated with the Civil Administration, to go in and retrieve belongings. Those notifications happened in Jenin and Tulkarem, according to the military.

However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate...
some resident said they weren’t notified and were not allowed to collect items from their house before the demolition. In response to The Times of Israel’s inquiry, the IDF stated: "The Coordination and Liaison Administration has conducted itself transparently throughout the operation and has coordinated with residents of the camps to arrange a proper schedule for evacuation and collection of belongings."

FINANCIAL HARDSHIP
One of the main challenges reported by displaced residents whose homes were demolished is the financial burden of living outside the camps. Many of meager means had previously lived in homes they owned, but are now forced to pay rent.

In addition, since the establishment of the Paleostinian Authority, residents of refugee camps have not paid for water, electricity, or municipal taxes.

I understand that Israel made sure the utility companies were paid, just like they did for Gaza.

This policy reflects the PA’s view of camp residents as "temporary" until a resolution to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict is reached — one that, under the Paleostinians’ demanded right of return, would allow descendants of refugees to go back to their ancestral homes in pre-1948 Israel. Such an eventuality is highly unlikely.

Alaa Abu Zina, a resident of the Jenin refugee camp whose home was destroyed about a month ago, told The Times of Israel by phone: "I’m 50 years old. We left with the entire extended family — my brothers and their children. Ten of us lived in that house. We left on the first day of the military operation, in January, the moment the army entered and began shooting. My family and I left under fire. They shot at people who left before us. It was terrifying. We didn’t take anything.

"We went to live with relatives in a nearby village and then returned to the city. Now I live in an apartment with my sisters, and my brother and his kids live in another apartment in a different neighborhood. I pay NIS 2,000 ($550) in rent every month."

Jamal Abu al-Shalabi, whose home was demolished in a previous IDF operation in the Jenin camp in July 2024, has been living outside it ever since. "I’m 46 and have eight children. We were 10 people living in the house: me, my wife, and the kids. Now we live in a rented apartment. We want to return to the refugee camp," he said.

"We can’t afford life in the city: rent, transportation, water, electricity. In the camp, we didn’t pay for water or electricity, and there was no need to pay for transportation. Everything was nearby, even education. There are no UNRWA schools outside the camp, only private ones."

Nihaya al-Jundi, a resident of Nur Shams refugee camp, left with her family when the military operation began there in February. Her home was demolished a day after she left, likely due to its location on the edge of the camp, where the military sought to gain access.

"Soldiers came into the house on February 8, told me to leave, and then demolished it with a bulldozer. I left Nur Shams on February 9 and haven’t returned since. We were three living in the house. I’m 35, married, and have a 14-year-old daughter. I now live in a rented apartment in Tulkarem, paying NIS 3,000 ($830) a month for a two-room unit with a kitchen and bathroom. I left without a fridge or washing machine. All the residents of Nur Shams are in the same situation, searching for furniture and renting homes."

’WE’LL RETURN THE MOMENT IT’S ALLOWED’
Many of the displaced residents from the Jenin and Tulkarem camps, whose homes were demolished, said they intended to return as soon as the army allows it, despite the destruction of their homes.

Mohammad Amer, a resident of Jenin camp whose home was demolished by the IDF in January, said: "Historically, we’re not from the refugee camp. I’m from Haifa. My grandfather was a refugee from Haifa. For me, returning to Haifa would be better, but our aspirations are smaller. We want to return to the refugee camp."

Abu al-Hijaa, from Jenin camp, said his house was burned during the operation in March, though the circumstances remain unclear. He told The Times of Israel: "I heard from journalists who entered the camp and took photos. I saw that my house had completely burned. I saw the photos in March and saw that it was scorched. I don’t have more details, and I don’t know if it was demolished afterward."

He added, "Everyone sees their home as a palace, it’s their life. You don’t give that up. We grew up there. The moment they say we can go back to the refugee camp — at 2 a.m., 3 a.m. — we’ll go back, put down a mattress, and live in the burned house."

However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate...
entire residential areas have been razed, and many Paleostinians fear that the number of returning residents will be reduced. These concerns stem from statements by Israeli military officials indicating that homes demolished for road-widening purposes will not be allowed to be rebuilt.

There is currently no clear timeline for when the military operation in the camps will end. In February, Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that he had instructed the IDF to remain in the camps throughout the coming year.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

After 5th round of nuclear talks, Iran says discussions with US ‘complicated’

2025-05-24

[IsraelTimes] Oman’s FM says ‘some but not conclusive progress’ made in negotiations

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that Tehran’s discussions with the United States over its nuclear program were "complicated," as the fifth round of talks concluded in Rome.

"The negotiations are too complicated to be resolved in two or three meetings," said Araghchi, who leads the Iranian negotiating team in the talks mediated by Oman.

Araghchi said there was potential for progress in nuclear negotiations after Oman made several proposals.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said "some but not conclusive progress" was made. "We hope to clarify the remaining issues in the coming days to allow us to proceed toward the common goal of reaching a sustainable and honorable agreement."

The talks, which began in April, are the highest-level contact between the foes since the United States quit a landmark 2015 nuclear accord during President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
’s first term.

Since returning to office, Trump has revived his "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, backing talks but warning of military action if diplomacy fails.

Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
wants a new deal that would ease the sanctions, which have battered its economy.

The fourth round of talks, in the Omani capital Muscat, ended with a public spat over enrichment. Witkoff said Washington "could not authorize even one percent" enrichment — a position Tehran called a red line, citing its rights under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Ahead of Friday’s talks, Araghchi said "fundamental differences" remained with the United States, while adding that Tehran was open to its nuclear sites undergoing more inspections.

"We will not have an agreement at all" if the United States wants to prevent Iran from enriching uranium, he said.

The talks came ahead of a June meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the October expiry of the 2015 accord.

The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aimed to allay Western suspicions that Iran was seeking a nuclear weapons capability, an ambition that Tehran has denied, while enriching uranium to levels that have no civilian application.

In return for curbs on its nuclear program, Iran had received relief from international sanctions. But the accord was torpedoed in 2018 when Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States and reimposed sanctions. Iran responded by ramping up its nuclear activities.

It is now enriching uranium to 60 percent — far above the deal’s 3.67 percent cap but below, though close to, the 90 percent level needed for a nuclear warhead.

Analysts in Tehran said Iran was unlikely to back down.

"It’s quite simple; if the US expects Iran to halt nuclear enrichment, then there can’t be a deal," said Mohammad Marandi, a political scientist who was once an adviser on the nuclear issue.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran says the country’s nuclear industry employs 17,000 people, similar to other countries where uranium is enriched for civilian use.

"The Netherlands, Belgium, South Korea, Brazil and Japan enrich without possessing nuclear weapons," its front man Behrouz Kamalvandi said.

Iran’s enmity with Israel, whose main backer is the United States, has been a constant backdrop to the talks.

In a letter to the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
, Araghchi wrote: "We believe that in the event of any attack on the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran by the Zionist regime, the US government will also be involved and bear legal responsibility."

The warning came after CNN
...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for...
, citing unnamed US officials, reported Israel was making preparations to carry out such a strike.

The White House said Trump had a "productive discussion" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday about Iran and the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington.

Friday’s talks took place before an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna in June, during which Iran’s nuclear activities will be reviewed.

The 2015 deal provides for the possibility of UN sanctions being reimposed through a mechanism called "snapback" if Iran fails to fulfil its commitments.

The agreement’s three European parties — Britannia, La Belle France and Germany — have warned they will trigger the mechanism if the continent’s security is threatened.

Araghchi said such a move would have "consequences — not only the end of Europe’s role in the agreement, but also an escalation of tensions that could become irreversible."

Mosssd
Mosssd

...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
chief David Barnea and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met US negotiator Steve Witkoff in Rome on Friday on the talks’ sidelines.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s targeting Iran’s program if a deal isn’t reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon if the nation is threatened.

"Iran almost certainly is not producing nuclear weapons, but Iran has undertaken activities in recent years that better position it to produce them, if it chooses to do so," a new report from the US Defense Intelligence Agency said.

"These actions reduce the time required to produce sufficient weapons-grade uranium for a first nuclear device to probably less than one week."

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
it likely still would take Iran months to make a working bomb, experts say.

Asked about the negotiations, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said "we believe that we are going to succeed" in the talks and in Washington’s push for no enrichment.

"The Iranians are at that table, so they also understand what our position is, and they continue to go," Bruce said Thursday.

One idea floated so far that might allow Iran to stop enrichment within the country but maintain a supply of uranium could be a consortium in the Mideast backed by regional countries and the US.

There are also multiple countries offering low-enriched uranium that can be used for peaceful purposes by countries.

However,
corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds...
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has maintained that enrichment must continue within the country’s borders, and a similar fuel-swap proposal failed to gain traction in negotiations in 2010.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Katz Offers a Fight: Swinger Spies Tried to Kill Israeli Hawk

2025-05-24

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov

[REGNUM] Spy scandals in Israel have reached a new level: Israel Katz, the head of the Israeli Defense Ministry and one of the close associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is in the crosshairs of Iranian intelligence.

The Israelis have uncovered an assassination attempt on Katz and are certain that its goal was to disrupt the operation to destroy the Iranian nuclear arsenal.

However, the desire to emphasize the “Iranian trace” in the spy story rather suggests the opposite: Tel Aviv is desperately looking for a reason to disrupt negotiations between Tehran and Washington, and at the same time justify its own operations against Iran.

CONSPIRATORIAL FRIENDS
The main defendant in the case is considered to be Roy Mizrahi, a 24-year-old computer science student at the Technion, one of the oldest and leading engineering schools in the country.

Mizrahi is known to have fallen into a honey trap and was recruited by Iranian operatives through the Haifa swingers' community he belonged to.

Moreover, by the time of the meeting with the Iranians, the suspect had accumulated a lot of debt due to his passion for card games, which gave Tehran's special services another lever of influence. The young programmer found himself firmly entangled in a spy network.

At first, he was entrusted with simple tasks: distributing propaganda materials and collecting information about the mood of Israeli youth. However, a little later they decided to use his computer engineer skills to his advantage.

On the orders of the Iranians, Mizrahi installed a live camera near the Haifa port and gave access to it to his handlers. According to some reports, he also participated in organizing small DDoS attacks on city institutions several times.

A few weeks later, when the new agent's loyalty was no longer in doubt, Mizrahi helped the Iranians expand their spy network by recruiting his friend Almog Atias.

He worked as a driver-forwarder and was known as a gambling addict, and therefore needed money. To "deepen the acquaintance" the Iranians gave him a "starting allowance" of $300.

At that time, Iranian intelligence apparently decided to entrust a promising agent with a truly big task.

OPERATION HAWK
The plotters were ordered to eliminate Israeli cabinet member Israel Katz. Since becoming defense minister in the fall of 2024, he has become one of the most ardent "hawks" in the coalition government and a lobbyist for a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure. His elimination was entirely in Tehran's national security interests.

A few days after learning about the plan, the newly formed team was transferred to the south of the country, to the community of Kfar Ahim, where Katz lived permanently. There they were supposed to install a surveillance camera, ensuring constant monitoring of the minister's home. However, the appearance of a police patrol ruined their plans.

Fearing surveillance, the conspirators destroyed the camera and switched to a backup plan: an attack on the ministerial motorcade. For this purpose, a rifle and a pistol with silencers were purchased on the black market, as well as several homemade bombs.

Also, according to testimony, the accused tried to bribe the driver and security guard of the Minister of Defense in order to take his car away from crowded streets and eliminate strong resistance during the assassination attempt.

The plan was to eliminate Katz on the eve of the country's Independence Day (from April 30 to May 1), turning the assassination attempt into a political manifesto and "revenge for the bloody operation" in the Gaza Strip.

However, as further investigation showed, neither Mizrahi nor Atias shared the idea of Palestinian independence and voiced this version during interrogations only in the hope of creating international publicity.

Be that as it may, they failed to carry out their plan: a few days before the alleged assassination attempt, both were arrested.

The Israeli intelligence services did not make a fuss and preferred to first look for other leads in the Iranian network. Especially since the agents who were arrested began to give each other up, telling about caches of money, ammunition and special equipment.

Subsequently, in the wake of the “Mizrahi-Atias affair,” several more investigations with a “Persian flair” were initiated, but Israeli operatives were never able to generalize them and discover a single spy network.

OCTOPUS HEAD
The Minister of Defense, by all appearances, took the news of the assassination attempt philosophically. His statements, made after the arrest of the conspirators (who were not yet officially known at the time), not only did not become more restrained, but, on the contrary, acquired a more militant tone.

Among other things, Katz declared a vendetta against the leaders of the Yemeni Houthis and promised to destroy the leadership of Hamas and Hezbollah. He used the news of the foiled plot, announced by counterintelligence, as a basis for attacks on Iran.

In particular, he called Tehran “the head of a terrorist octopus” and reaffirmed his commitment to “preventing at any cost” the Iranians from acquiring nuclear weapons.

It is noteworthy that the Israeli minister announced his readiness to fight on the eve of a new round of Iranian-American negotiations on peaceful nuclear energy.

Katz and his entourage have been pressing the White House for months to give the green light to an air operation against the opponent's nuclear facilities before the window of opportunity due to Iran's weakened air defenses closes completely.

Washington is slow and trying to keep interaction with Tehran on a diplomatic track. As a gesture of goodwill, the United States even withdrew some of the strategic bombers from the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean that were transferred there in March 2025, and also agreed to a ceasefire with the Yemeni Houthis.

The easing of tensions between Washington and Tehran is weakening Tel Aviv's pressure. That is why Israeli military hawks led by Katz are desperately trying to use the "Mizrahi-Atias affair" as an argument to justify further confrontation.

EASTERN HINTS
The wave of criticism provoked by this spy story, at first glance, passed by the Iranians. Tehran had not reacted too violently to scandals with agents attributed to it before, and after the number of those arrested in spy cases exceeded fifteen, it began to essentially ignore the accusations of Tel Aviv.

At the same time, Katz’s speech with promises to respond to Tehran’s actions at any cost received a comprehensive response.

Official releases appeared (within a few hours of each other) on the websites of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, parliament and government; comments were given by high-ranking officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and intelligence officials.

True, none of the agencies focused on the “Mizrahi-Atias affair,” limiting criticism to the inadmissibility of threats to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

The Iranian position was summed up by the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In one of his appeals to believers, he dressed up criticism of Israel in a religious story, emphasizing that "the one who constantly deceives will eventually become a victim of deception."

Thus, he pointed out that in the event of aggression against Iran, it would be too naive for Tel Aviv to count on unconditional military support from the United States. Especially in light of Donald Trump’s desire to “castle” in the Middle East and focus on supporting Arabian allies rather than Israel.

In general, the Iranian side made it clear to its opponents that Tel Aviv's speculations around spy stories do not frighten them and that Tehran is prepared to take a hit. In contrast, the Iranians put forward their own question: is Israel ready to face them one-on-one if something happens?

And, apparently, official Tel Aviv does not yet have a clear answer to it.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

A diplomatic storm: Self-inflicted PR damage complicates Israel's uphill battle

2025-05-23

[Jpost] How much damage can words do? Israel’s internal rhetoric is intensifying global condemnation and playing into the hands of those fueling anti-Israel sentiment.

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”
— H.L.Mencken

The barrage this week came fast, hard, and from all directions.

But it wasn’t missiles from Lebanon or drones from Iran that pounded Israel this time. Instead, it was a diplomatic onslaught: waves of condemnation, sanctions, and outrage from capitals across the globe, most notably in Europe.

The trigger: images of hungry children in Gaza flooding the airwaves, a wildly exaggerated claim by a senior UN official that 14,000 babies would die in Gaza if aid did not reach them in 48 hours, and Israel’s vow to intensify the fighting to free hostages and destroy Hamas.

A harsh statement signed by the leaders of Britain, France, and Canada, punitive threats – some already acted upon – and the murder of two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington all underscored a dangerous reality: Israel is not only fighting the war in Gaza but also a battle for legitimacy on the world stage.

The UK froze trade negotiations, the EU initiated a review of its association agreement with Israel, and foreign ministers queued up to censure. Yet, ironically, some of the sharpest blows came not from Israel’s enemies but from Israelis themselves.

PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu tried to project calm at his first press conference since December.

“European countries will not influence us or cause us to abandon our core objectives: securing Israel’s future and safety,” he said. Israel, he asserted, would continue to aggressively pursue its war aims until Hamas is dismantled, the hostages are returned, and Gaza no longer poses a threat.

“We will do what is necessary to complete the war,” he said, adding that, in the end, Israel will have complete security control over the enclave.

Even as he dismissed European pressure, Netanyahu acknowledged the power of another force: images. Specifically, the images of hungry Gazan children and food lines that are dominating global headlines and eroding US political support.

Despite Hamas still holding 58 hostages, 20 of whom Netanyahu said were alive, and even with ongoing concerns about aid being intercepted by terrorists, Netanyahu reversed a policy in effect since March 2 and authorized renewed humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Why the shift? Because the White House requested it –

I would vote for Donald Trump again, but this particular triangulation is shameful. Cowardly. He knows the situation and the ramifications, but chose to put his thumb on the scale for the side that created Elias Rodriguez, refusing to stand up against the lies.

and because, as Netanyahu conveyed, even Israel’s closest allies could not bear the optics.

Cowards.

“Our best friends in the world,” Netanyahu said in a short video Monday explaining the new policy, “senators I have known as unstinting, enthusiastic supporters, who I have known for dozens of years, are coming to me and saying this: We give you all the assistance to complete the victory – arms, support to destroy Hamas, defense in the UN Security Council. There is one thing we cannot stand: We cannot take pictures of starvation, mass starvation. We won’t be able to support you.”

To retain international backing, Israel had to confront the humanitarian crisis; Netanyahu said: “To achieve victory, we have to solve the problem.”

IT’S A SOBERING message. Even in a war started by Hamas with its barbaric October 7 attack, optics and false narratives (such as 14,000 babies dying within 48 hours) are shaping the battlefield.

If the original logic in withholding the aid was to pressure Hamas into freeing hostages, the new approach suggests the opposite: resuming aid is essential to preserving international support needed to sustain military pressure on Hamas.

However, as the statements from some European capitals and Canada made clear – statements issued, ironically, the very day aid resumed – the intensified military campaign does not enjoy international legitimacy. But the move may help temper US criticism.

Critics on Netanyahu’s Right called the reversal capitulation. Critics on his Left said it was yet another example of incoherent policy. Both may have a point. But there’s another way to interpret it: tactical recalibration in a shifting geopolitical landscape.

At the core lies a truth too often ignored abroad: Hamas could end the humanitarian crisis immediately by releasing the hostages. It chooses not to because, for Hamas, the suffering of its own civilians is a weapon, not a liability.

“People have forgotten October 7,” said President Donald Trump during his Mideast tour, which ended last Friday in the UAE. “It was one of the most violent days in world history.” He’s right. And many have also forgotten that Gaza’s agony continues because Hamas refuses to yield, free the hostages, and surrender.

This war isn’t fought only in Rafah’s tunnels and in the alleys of Khan Yunis. It is also being waged in Washington’s corridors, at the UN, and on the world’s television screens.

Israel may have the upper hand militarily, but in Europe’s halls of power and in the court of global opinion, it is faltering. Some are arguing – with no small degree of justification – that Israel’s minimal public diplomacy suggests it has all but abandoned that front.

Adding to the public diplomacy challenge is that some of the damage is self-inflicted.

On the Left, Yair Golan, a former IDF deputy chief of staff and head of the Democrats Party, accused his own country this week of “killing babies as a hobby.”

On the Right, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich spoke at a conference earlier this month of postwar Gaza where its “desperate” civilians will all be in the south, “understanding there is no future, no purpose, and nothing left for them in Gaza” but to seek relocation and start new lives elsewhere.

These voices may lie on the ideological fringes, but their words shape how the world sees the conflict.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

IDF chief of staff dismisses new Shin Bet appointee from military in meeting

2025-05-23

[Jpost] An earlier IDF statement stressed that any communication by IDF personnel with the political echelon requires the approval of the chief of staff.

The IDF on Friday clarified that Maj.-Gen. David Zini was not dismissed from the military during his meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir earlier in the day, adding that Zini is an appreciated and decorated officer.

Zamir finalized Zini's retirement from the IDF after being summoned for a conversation in his office, following Zini's appointment as Shin Bet head, the military said.

The conversation was intended to clarify whether Zini had conducted negotiations behind Zamir's back in light of the prime minister's announcement about the appointment.

His retirement from military service is expected in the coming days, according to an earlier IDF statement.

The earlier statement stressed that any communication by IDF personnel with the political echelon requires the approval of the chief of staff.

According to military commands, an officer is forbidden from conducting discussions with the political echelon without the knowledge and approval of the chief of staff.

APPOINTMENT AS NEW SHIN BET HEAD
Zamir was notified of Zini’s appointment just minutes before it was announced publicly and did not take part in the decision-making process.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Zini as the next head of the Shin Bet on Thursday evening.

Netanyahu's office's announcement was made despite a High Court ruling that the dismissal of Shin Bet head Ronen Bar was unlawful due to Netanyahu's conflict of interest in the "Qatargate" affair, and despite the opposition of Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara.

Bibi has been fighting Israel’s recalcitrant Deep State a lot longer than Donald Trump has.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Fifth round of nuclear talks set for Friday in Rome as Iran insists on right to enrich

2025-05-22

[IsraelTimes] Tehran agrees to more talks though US has said it cannot enrich uranium; Netanyahu says he’d welcome deal that bars regime from enriching, ensures it can’t build bomb

Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and the United States will hold the next round of talks on the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s nuclear program in Rome later this week, Tehran and mediator Oman said Wednesday.

The arch-foes have held four rounds of nuclear talks since April 12, the highest-level contact between them since US President Donald Trump
...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons...
abandoned the 2015 nuclear deal during his first term.

"The 5th round of Iran-US talks will take place in Rome this Friday," Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X.

Iran confirmed it would attend the meeting.

Iranian Foreign Ministry front man Esmaeil Baqaei said in a statement that Tehran had agreed "to a proposal put forward by (mediator) Oman... to organize another round of Iran-US talks" in the Italian capital on Friday.

The talks aim for a new agreement that would curb Iran’s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief.

Western countries, including the United States, have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt...
the Islamic Theocratic Republic, which is sworn to the destruction of Israel, currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, which has no peaceful application, and has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities.

The level of enrichment is far above the 3.67% limit set in the 2015 deal but below the 90% needed for a nuclear warhead.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...>
, expressed doubt this week over the talks.

"We don’t think it will lead to any outcome. We don’t know what will happen," he said.

Denying Iran’s right to enrich uranium was "a big mistake," Khamenei added.

His remarks came after the United States’ key negotiator in the talks, Steve Witkoff, voiced opposition to any Iranian uranium enrichment.

"An enrichment programme can never exist in the state of Iran ever again. That’s our red line. No enrichment," he told right-wing Breitbart News in an interview published on May 9.

Iran has repeatedly insisted its right to maintain uranium enrichment was "non-negotiable."

On Sunday, its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would keep enriching uranium "with or without a deal" on his country’s nuclear program.

Trump effectively torpedoed the deal in 2018 during his first term by unilaterally pulling out and reimposing sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and banking sector.

A year later, Iran began rolling back its commitments to the agreement, which had offered sanctions relief in return for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.

The three European powers — party to the 2015 accord — are weighing whether to trigger the "snapback" mechanism, which would reinstate UN sanctions in response to Iranian non-compliance. That option expires in October.

Araghchi earlier this month warned of "irreversible" consequences if Britannia, La Belle France, and Germany moved to reimpose sanctions.

CNN
...formerly the Cable News Network, now who know what it might stand for...
reported Tuesday that new intelligence obtained by Washington suggests that Israel is making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, though it was not clear if Jerusalem had made a final decision on the matter.

"Iran remains a serious threat against Israel," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a presser on Wednesday night, stressing that Israel is "in full coordination with the US. We talk to them all the time. We hope that it’s possible to reach an agreement that will prevent a nuclear weapon from Iran."

"That means it will prevent Iran from having the ability to enrich uranium. If it is reached, of course, we will welcome it," he said, before warning that "Israel reserves the right to defend itself against a regime that threatens to destroy us."

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel said readying to quickly strike Iranian nuclear sites if US-Iran talks collapse

2025-05-22

Remember yesterday’s big reveal, that Israel was secretly preparing to attack Iran’s nuclear program? Some secret.

[IsraelTimes] Israel is getting ready to quickly strike Iran if ongoing talks between the United States and the Islamic Republic over the latter’s nuclear program break down, Axios reports, citing a pair of Israeli sources.

“Bibi is waiting for the nuclear talks to collapse and for the moment Trump will be disappointed about the negotiations and open to giving him the go ahead,” says one of the sources, using Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname.

According to the sources, the Israeli intelligence community now thinks talks could soon collapse, after previously believing an agreement was close. One of the sources says the military believes the window to attack Iran may soon slam shut, requiring Israel to move fast if the negotiations do not pan out, without saying why the IDF thinks that.

The news site also says that both sources confirmed a CNN report that Israel is preparing for potential strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, while adding any attack would require a week-long campaign and not be a one-off.

“There was a lot of training and the US military sees everything and understands Israel is preparing,” one of the sources is quoted as saying.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

PM insists actions by Western nations demanding end to Gaza war ‘won’t influence’ Israel, but Trump absolutely committed to Israel

2025-05-22

[IsraelTimes] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the harsh rhetoric and punitive actions, including sanctions, from European nations demanding an end to the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
"will not influence" Israel to change its national security policies.

"European countries will not influence us and they will not cause us to abandon our core objectives — ensuring the security of Israel and the future of Israel," says Netanyahu at a presser in Jerusalem.

In recent days, European nations have called on Israel to halt its expanded military campaign in Gaza and lift restrictions on aid for Gazook civilians. On Tuesday, the United Kingdom announced a pause in free trade talks with Israel and imposed sanctions on West Bank settlers, a day after the leaders of the UK, La Belle France, and Canada issued a joint statement explicitly threatening to take action against Israel if it does not end the conflict and allow in aid.

"We will do what is necessary to complete the war," says the premier.

"It is a badge of shame that Britannia, instead of imposing sanctions on Hamas
Hamas

..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
, is imposing sanctions on a woman who is threatened daily on the roads of Judea and Samaria by Hamas terrorists," Netanyahu also, likely referring to veteran settler leader Daniella Weiss.

"It’s a total loss of moral direction. These countries are under pressure — from the Islamic minority within them, and from public opinion shaped by Hamas’s false propaganda," the premier says.

Netanyahu says that "the sanctions that are truly concerning" would be imposed by the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
Security Council. "Binding sanctions — a resolution we will not allow," he asserts.

According to Netanyahu, as a condition for releasing hostages and agreeing to end the war, Hamas is demanding the UN Security Council pass a resolution providing for binding sanctions that would damage Israel’s economy and national security were it to resume fighting the terror group at a later time. Such a resolution, if it passed, would be impossible to revoke, he says.

"That’s why we reject this condition [of ending the war.] It’s a childish condition promoted by people who don’t understand what they’re talking about, saying: ’What’s the problem with ending the war on Hamas’s terms? Just get the hostages out and then go back in’," says Netanyahu.

"They’re forgetting...it won’t come for free. You’d have to evacuate the entire Gaza Strip. There would be a binding resolution in the Security Council that would crash Israel’s economy completely, and also our security systems. It’s insane. Simply insane," he continues.

"This is Hamas’s goal," he says. "They want to stop the war, end it, and push through a binding Security Council resolution — one that would compel 180 countries to impose sanctions on us."

"All those images — the hunger, the claims that ’44,000 children are about to die’ — all of that false propaganda echoes over there, and they cave to it," says the premier, possibly referring to a debunked UN claim earlier this week that 14,000 babies in Gaza would soon die if proper nutrition doesn’t reach them.

"I won’t cave to it. I will do what needs to be done," says Netanyahu, adding that he also rejects the prospect of European nations unilaterally recognizing a Paleostinian state.

"We strongly oppose their intention to give Hamas the ultimate prize — to recognize a Paleostinian state. After October 7, after we saw what a de facto Paleostinian state looks like — it was called Gaza. Hamas’s Gaza. Hamastan. And now they want to create another one? There is no greater reward for terror," says Netanyahu.

He says Israel has "smashed" terror cells in West Bank refugee camps in an unprecedented way. "We are not capitulating to any terrorist — in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
, Gaza, Leb
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
or Judea and Samaria."

Netanyahu: Trump told me ‘I have absolute commitment to you’; US deepening ties with Arab states can expand Abraham Accords

[IsraelTimes] In his press conference this evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares that Israel’s relations with the United States are positive and reports in Israeli and US media of a rift between him and US President Donald Trump are false, adding that Trump’s warming of relations with Arab states in the Middle East won’t sideline Israel.

He says he spoke with Trump and with US Vice President JD Vance in recent days and was assured that America has Israel’s back.

“Let me give you some details that perhaps haven’t been made public. A few days ago — I think around 10 days ago, maybe a little more — I spoke on the phone with President Trump. And he said to me, literally: ‘Bibi, I want you to know — I have absolute commitment to you. I have absolute commitment to the State of Israel.’

“Just a few days ago, I spoke with Vice President Vance. He said to me… ‘Listen, don’t pay attention to all these fake news spins about this rupture between us… He said: It’s all spin. This isn’t the truth, you know it’s not true, and I’m telling you, from our side, it’s not true.'”

“We’re coordinated with the [Trump] administration,” continues Netanyahu, “We speak with each other. We respect their interests, and they respect ours — and they overlap. I won’t tell you they align completely — obviously not — but they align almost completely.”

The two allies want to ensure that Iran cannot get the bomb and that Hamas is booted out of Gaza, he says. And “we want to ensure that Trump’s plan” for Gaza comes to fruition, he adds. “It’s a brilliant plan,” he says, that truly can bring change not only here… but can change the face of the Middle East. Change once and for all what we have been through from Gaza for decades.”

Netanyahu also expresses his support for Trump’s objectives of tightening relations with Gulf nations in the Middle East, demonstrated by his visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates last week, saying Trump’s moves may serve Israel by facilitating more Abraham Accords normalization agreements.

“I have no objection to the United States deepening its ties in the Arab world. That’s absolutely fine. And I’ll tell you even more — I believe that can actually help expand the Abraham Accords, which I’m very invested in. I’m interested in that.”

During the roughly two-and-a-half years in which he and Trump prepared the Abraham Accords, says Netanyahu, Gulf states were speaking very harshly about Israel.

“But beneath the surface, something very different was happening. And I think there’s a possibility that this could happen again. I would be very happy if it does, because it’s one of my goals,” he says.

“I’ve always wanted to expand the circle of peace, to extend a hand to our friends and push away the sword of our enemies. I’m very determined in this, and I’m focused on it.”

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

UN says it has ‘collected and dispatched’ 90 truckloads of aid into Gaza

2025-05-22

[IsraelTimes] Announcement that distribution of humanitarian goods has started comes after UN officials accused Israel of preventing collection of supplies; rockets fired from Gaza land in Strip

The United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
on Wednesday confirmed that it collected and began distributing around 90 truckloads of aid into Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
, marking the first aid distribution in the besieged coastal territory since early March, after UN officials claimed they were unable to pick up supplies at the border with Israel.

Three days after Israel announced it would allow in limited aid, the United Nations on Wednesday "collected around 90 truckloads of goods from the Kerem Shalom crossing and dispatched them into Gaza," Stephane Dujarric, front man for UN Secretary-General António Guterres
...Portuguese politician and diplomat, ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations. Previously, he was the UN High Commissioner for Refugees between 2005 and 2015. He was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and was the Secretary-General of the Socialist Party from 1992 to 2002. He served as President of the Socialist International from 1999 to 2005. In both a 2012 and 2014 poll, the Portuguese public ranked him as the best Prime Minister of the previous 30 years...
, said in a statement.

The Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) earlier announced that 100 trucks carrying humanitarian aid

entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. COGAT said the aid delivery came "following the recommendation of professional IDF officials and in accordance with the directive of the political echelon."

The trucks contained flour, baby food and medical equipment, according to COGAT.

The aid underwent an inspection first by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

COGAT did not address the UN allegations that the IDF had prevented the collection of aid on the Gaza side of the border.

Nahid Shahaiber, a major transport company owner, said 75 trucks of flour and over a dozen more carrying nutritional supplements and sugar were inside the southern area of Rafah and witnesses said trucks carrying flour had been seen in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

Also Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said three rockets were launched from northern Gaza, setting off sirens in the border communities of Zikim and Netiv Haasara.

All three projectiles fell short in Gaza, the army added.

No injuries were caused in the attack, after which the IDF’s Arabic-language front man issued evacuation orders for residents in parts of northern Gaza.

Over the weekend, the IDF launched a major new offensive dubbed "Gideon’s Chariots" launched over the weekend, which Israel says seeks to destroy Hamas
Hamas

..always the voice of sweet reason...
and seize and retain the whole territory, while relocating Paleostinians across the enclave.

On Tuesday, IDF chief Eyal Zamir threatened to ramp up the campaign even further if Hamas did not agree to Israel’s demands that it release the hostages and give up power.

"It will face intense firepower," he said. "We will expand the ground maneuver, conquer additional territory, clear and destroy the terror infrastructure until it is defeated."

Israel is seeking to pressure Hamas into freeing 58 hostages remaining in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be alive, and demands that the group relinquish power before ending the war.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled a high-level negotiating team from Doha, where talks on a ceasefire and hostage release deal appeared to be stuck.

🇵🇸 VIDEO: In food-starved Gaza, residents have resorted to grinding lentils, pasta and rice for baking bread amid severe shortages of flour. pic.twitter.com/eTwSJa7Rnu
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 19, 2025

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Soldier killed in booby-trapped Gaza building as strikes pound aid-deprived Strip

2025-05-22

[IsraelTimes] Staff Sgt. Danilo Mocanu, 20, buried under rubble in Khan Younis amid expanded IDF offensive; humanitarian groups say assistance not reaching Gazans, too little entering enclave

An Israeli soldier was killed when a booby-trapped building collapsed in the southern Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Strip, the military said Wednesday, marking the second combat fatality since the launch of a widened offensive in the enclave over the weekend.

Paleostinians in the Strip reported 19 people killed in overnight ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s, as Israel pressed the offensive amid mounting international pressure to halt the fighting and allow more aid into the beleaguered territory.

The Israel Defense Forces said Staff Sgt. Danilo Mocanu, 20, was killed Tuesday amid fighting in Khan Younis, which has become a focus of the intensified military campaign in recent days.

According to a preliminary IDF probe, Mocanu was killed when a bomb planted by terror operatives went kaboom! in a building, which then collapsed with him inside.

Mocanu, of the 7th Armored Brigade’s 82nd Battalion, had gone into the building with a second soldier following initial scans with a drone and a bomb-sniffing dog, the investigation

When the two reached the top floor of the building, a bomb that had been planted there went kaboom!, according to the probe. The detonation brought the top floor onto the rest of the structure, collapsing it.

It took soldiers several hours to extract the body from the rubble, the army said. The second soldier was rescued relatively quickly with minor injuries.

Mocanu, a resident of Holon, is the 420th fatality among Israeli service-members since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which thousands of Hamas
Hamas

..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
-led Death Eaters killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered condolences to Mocanu’s family as well as the family of Sgt. Yosef Yehuda Chirak, 22, who was killed Monday in a friendly fire incident while operating with soldiers preparing to demolish a tunnel in northern Gaza.

A friend, Sergei Marchenko, told Hebrew-language media that Mocanu insisted on serving as a combat soldier despite being eligible for an exemption due to being his father’s only child.

"He was scared of war, but said it was for the country," Marchenko told Channel 12 news. "We spoke a month ago, he said it was hard, but, like every combat soldier... did not complain."

According to the Ynet news site, the building where Mocanu was killed was on the western side of Khan Younis, near the Israeli border. The soldiers entered the structure as part of operations paving the way for a broad ground push into Gaza’s second-largest city, which was largely destroyed in earlier rounds of fighting.

Israel on Monday ordered the city’s tens of thousands of residents to move to a humanitarian zone to the southeast, warning that it was preparing an "unprecedented attack" on the area.

The military said Wednesday that the air force had struck 115 targets across the Strip over the past day, hitting rocket launchers, buildings used by terror groups, tunnels, other infrastructure, and cells of operatives. The Navy also shelled areas of northern Gaza to assist troops on the ground, the army said.

According to the military, one missile launched from a helicopter gunship impacted inside Israel near the Gaza border fence due to a technical malfunction. No injuries were caused and an investigation was launched.

The IDF also announced that a recent dronezap in northern Gaza had killed Mohammed Shaheen, a member of Hamas’s elite Nukhba force in the terror group’s East Jabalia Battalion who participated in the October 7 attack, according to Israel.

Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defense agency reported that overnight strikes killed at least 19 people, including a week-old baby, after health authorities said 85 people were killed Tuesday.

"Our crews transported 19 dead, most of them children, and dozens of injured following air raids carried out by the Israeli warplanes in various areas of the Gaza Strip last night and early today," civil defense front man Mahmud Bassal told AFP, naming multiple victims including the newborn.

The figures, which do not differentiate between civilians and button men, could not be verified.

Israel says it takes steps to minimize civilian casualties and blames Hamas which is deeply embedded in civilian infrastructure, operating out of camps, hospitals and schools.

The intensified strikes are part of a major new offensive dubbed "Gideon’s Chariots" launched over the weekend, which Israel says seeks to destroy Hamas and seize and retain the whole territory, while relocating Paleostinians across the enclave.

On Tuesday, IDF chief Eyal Zamir threatened to ramp up the campaign even further if Hamas did not agree to Israel’s demands that it release the hostages and give up power.

"It will face intense firepower," he said. "We will expand the ground maneuver, conquer additional territory, clear and destroy the terror infrastructure until it is defeated."

Israel is seeking to pressure Hamas into freeing 58 hostages remaining in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be alive, and demands that the group relinquish power before ending the war.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu recalled a high-level negotiating team from Doha, where talks on a ceasefire and hostage release deal appeared to be stuck.

Jerusalem is facing escalating international pressure to halt the military campaign and allow aid into the enclave.

Internal notes circulated among aid groups Wednesday and seen by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named said that 65 trucks of humanitarian aid

were transferred from the Israel side of the Kerem Shalom crossing to the Paleostinian side, but had not moved from there.

Under pressure, Israel agreed this week to allow a "minimal" amount of aid into the Paleostinian territory after preventing the entry of food, medicine and fuel since early March. But UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Tuesday that aid workers were not able to bring the deliveries to distribution points where it is most needed, after the Israeli military forced them to reload the supplies onto separate trucks and workers ran out of time.

COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry body that oversees humanitarian aid, said five trucks entered Monday and 93 trucks entered Tuesday.

The United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
humanitarian agency received approval for about 100 trucks to enter Gaza, front man Jens Laerke said, which is far less than the 600 that entered daily during the latest ceasefire that Israel ended in March. The Foreign Ministry said dozens are expected to enter each day.

The aid included flour for bakeries, food for soup kitchens, baby food and medical supplies. The UN humanitarian agency said it is prioritizing baby formula in the first shipments.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said the aid being allowed in fell far short of what was needed, describing it as a "smokescreen to pretend the siege is over."

"The Israeli authorities’ decision to allow a ridiculously inadequate amount of aid into Gaza after months of an air-tight siege signals their intention to avoid the accusation of starving people in Gaza, while in fact keeping them barely surviving," said Pascale Coissard, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Gaza’s Khan Younis.

Dujarric described the new security process for getting aid cleared to warehouses as "long, complex, complicated and dangerous." Israel says it is implementing steps to attempt to keep the aid from being diverted by Hamas.

Link

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